Office 365 license assignment & enforcement

Content: 

Overview 

Cayosoft Administrator provides both Automated License Assignment and Manual License Assignment. Automatic license assignment is accomplished by creating rules in the Cayosoft Administrator Automation & Configuration Console. Control over manual license assignment is accomplished through the Cayosoft Administrator Web Portal.

Automate Office 365 licenses with rules

Cayosoft Administrator Office 365 license enforcement rules both assign a license with the specified options and then provide on-going enforcement of that license and options. If a license is changed by an administrator, the license will be reset to the desired state defined by the rule, the very next time the rule executes.

Create license enforcement rule 

1. In the Cayosoft Automation & Configuration console, click New Rule

2. Check Microsoft Hybrid & License Management then click Next

3. Check Licenses then click Next

4. Check Office 365 Users | Enforce License then click Next

5. Select the desired output type then click Next

6. Update or Change the Rule name as desired

7. Change the rule label if desired

   Labels represent folders in the navigation tree into which the rule will created

8. Click Finish

Rule Query section

Account Status Setting

The account setting drop-down allows you to choose that license assignment be performed based on the status of the user account being enabled, disabled or either.

Filters vs. Query Criteria

Both Filters and Query Criteria can be used to refine the list of objects that will be affected by the rule when it is executed. Filters are more flexible, but they are applied only after data has been returned from Office 365. Query Criteria are less flexible, but may improve performance because the criteria is sent at the time Office 365 is queried and so they limit the amount of data that must be sent over the network connection. Filters and Query Criteria can be used together to optimize the performance of the License Enforcement Rule.

Filters

Applying a filter to a license enforcement query narrows down the selection of users who will receive the license assignment. Filters allow you to specify multiple detailed criteria so that licenses are applied to a specific set of users.

Criteria Builder

Clicking the selection button (shown here in red) to the right of the Filter field will display the criteria builder. The criteria builder provides a point-and-click interface for constructing complex detailed filters.

Query Criteria

Query criteria can be used to narrow the scope of the query being sent to Office 365 so that the amount of data returned is reduced and there-by improving the License Enforcement Rule’s performance. Only one value may be specified for each of the pre-defined Query Criteria fields.

Target New Unlicensed Users

The option Only users who are not assigned a license can be set to Yes so that only users that do not currently have a license will be assigned a license by the rule.

Rule Action Section

Choose License & Options

Displayed in the Action section of the Rule are the licenses available for the Office 365 tenant configured under Configuration > Microsoft Office 365. Select the license(s) that will be applied to the users returned by the Query section of the Rule.

Empty Check-box – Removes the license from the targeted user.

Checked Check-box – Assigns the license to the targeted user.

Exclude from rule Check-box – License not affected by enforcement rule.

License update order: – Determines the assignment order when a license must be removed in order to assign a correct license.

Rule Enforcement Section

Schedule License Assignment

After you have configured and tested the license enforcement rule, you can schedule it to automatically run on schedule. By running the rule on schedule, you will ensure that users maintain the correct license.

Office 365 License assignment by Active Directory group

Cayosoft Administrator will let you use the membership of an Active Directory group to assign licenses to Office 365 users. When Cayosoft Administrator reads the group membership in the On-premises Active Directory, it then searches for a corresponding account in Office 365. If (and only if) a matching account is found will the license specified in the Action section of the rule, be applied to the user.

Create License Enforcement rule

1. In the Cayosoft Automation & Configuration console, click New Rule

2. Check Microsoft Hybrid & License Management then click Next

3. Check Licenses then click Next

4. Check Office 365 Users | Enforce License by AD Group Membership then click Next

5. Select the desired output type then click Next

6. Update or Change the Rule name as desired

7. Change the rule label if desired

   Labels represent folders in the navigation tree into which the rule will created

8. Click Finish

Specify the Licensing Group

To specify an Active Directory group whose members will be licensed by the rule, click the selection button to the right of the AD Group (DN) field.

Cayosoft Dynamic Groups

Cayosoft Dynamic Groups can be used when specifying the group that contains the users who will receive the Office 365 license. Cayosoft Dynamic Groups have memberships that are automatically maintained (users added or removed) by a query that identifies the group’s membership. Like license assignment rules, Dynamic Groups are also scheduled periodically to update the Dynamic Group’s Membership so that the group membership is always correct.

Group Membership Restrictions for Licensing Groups

In version 4.x Group Membership restrictions can be used to control the type of objects that can be made members of the group and the maximum number of members. Restricted groups are ideal for license assignment because they allow you to make sure only user’s are assigned licenses and that administrators will only be allowed to assign a specific number of members which can be set equal to the number of assignable licenses.

Control manual Office 365 Licenses assignments in the Web Portal

There are several ways to allow administrators to assign Office 365 licenses manually to users when using the Cayosoft Administrator Web  Portal.

Configure the New User or Clone User Actions

1. Navigate to Cayosoft Administrator > Configuration > Web Interface > Web Actions > Active Directory > New User
2. Expand the License Option section

3. Set the options as desired and then save the rule

License Option Descriptions

Use Automated License Rule – This allows you to define a default licnese so no choice is needed during user creation. This option runs the rule named Cayosoft Administrator > Rules > WebAdmin Rules (Pre-configured) > New User | Office 365 User Enforce License. To see or set the default license simply adjust that rule. (See Configure a Default License for New User or Clone User Actions)

Do not assign license during creation – This will option will not assign a license. If the user asked for an Office 365 or Exchange Remote mailbox to be created an error will occur.

Configure a Default License for the New User or Clone User Actions

1. Navigate to Cayosoft Administrator > Rules > WebAdmin Rules (Pre-configured)

2. Select the rule New User | Office 365 User Enforce License

3. Assign licenses and options to bee assigned to new users

4. Click Save Changes to save the rule

Manually assign Office 365 licenses to new users

1. Open the Cayosoft Administrator Console

2. Navigate to Cayosoft Administrator Configuration -> Web Interface -> Web Actions -> Active Directory -> New User

3. Select User selects license during creation

4. Save the Rule

5. Navigate to Cayosoft Administrator Rules -> WebAdmin Rules (Pre-configured) -> New User | Office 365 User Enforce License

6. Select the default license that will be assigned to new users when Remote Mailbox or Office 365 Mailbox is selected.

   Note: you must choose an option that includes an Exchange Online Mailbox, and the options selected must not conflict.
7. Save the Rule